It’s amazing how just a brush and some black ink can be the culture of the Chinese for more than a few centuries.

The local name for calligraphy is Shūfǎ 書法 in China, literally “the way/method/law of writing”. Chinese calligraphy history dated back to 4000 years ago. No one can tell exactly when Chinese written language appeared. The oldest script or font style discovered now is the oracle bone script (Chinese: 甲骨文; pinyin: jiǎgǔwén; literally “shell-bone script”), written on the shells of turtles. Chinese language is an ideogram system in which ideas are written into characters. Below is an example on how it evolved.

This is the character of “moon”.As you can see,the picture of the moon slowly evolved into the logo/pictograph that is used today.

Literally speaking, the Chinese character is a picture or an idea written in stylized form.

As Chinese, we play a role in keeping our own culture alive. With a mix of responsibility + playfulness + challenge, we decided to join the National Chinese Calligraphy Competition organised by the Han Kang Society and Snake Year Zodiac Society.

It was bright cool Sunday morning on 27th January, 2013, and we are off to a mission – Chinese Calligraphy Competition in Sg Besar, Selangor.

Sg Besar is located at the upper border of Selangor state, a zone of the Sabak Bernam district.

Sungai Besar(literally meaning big river) is a small port town located at the Selangor banks of Malacca Strait.Takes about 2 hours to reach from KL. A quiet town where fishing and agriculture remain as main income for majority of the townspeople.

Arrived at about 930am,welcomed by hordes of fellow contestants aka fellow calligraphy enthusiasts.

While waiting for the event to start, we munched on some of the ‘gao dian’ 糕点 i.e hors d’oeuvres prepared by the organizers.

Wan Tor Kuih aka 弯陀糕(the purplish one in front) is a vey traditional Chinese delicacy.It is made of a glutionous rice flour outer skin,usually seasoned with yam;and a filling of stir fried glutionus rice,mushrooms,dried shrimps,spring onions,minced pork and red bean paste.Yam cake or Wu Tao Gou 芋头糕(the one at the back) is another must have.It is basically rice flour and yam cubes steamed,garnishedwith dried shrimps,fried onions and chilies.We have more than we should.

After getting our special dose of traditional snacks, we started setting up the table for our calligraphy session.

There are two parts to this contest

1) Poem writing (in which contestants write a poem or stanza given by the organizers in their most beautiful and distinctive calligraphy style)

2) Creative snake word ( in which contestants write or draw creative renditions of the Chinese character for snake)

After a pious speech by some political figure, the contest was officiated! There was even an incessant blast of firecrackers to heat up the atmosphere.

Deliberately putting my strokes on the red paper.Each stroke has to be the correct pressure,size and curve to get high points.

The stanza I wrote. In simple terms,it means- the year starts with spring, human virtue starts with filial piety.

The “master” showing off her skills. She wrote with diluted glue and then sprinkled gold dust to create a Golden Snake. Simply,creative! (In conjunction with year 2013 which is Year of the Golden Snake!) Huat arhhh !!!

At about 1230pm,the contest ended. Suddenly the atmosphere went into a relaxing serenade. Everyone was walking around; mingling, and admiring each others artworks.

People everywhere.The air exudes a sense of art and cultural enlightenment as everyone imbibes in the beauty of calligraphy.

What a big shock when they announced that we made it into the top ten finalists. It was my first try at a calligraphy competition of such level. Furthermore, it was Jen’s first calligraphy contest ever. Talk about beginners luck 😛

Anyway, I do believe that strategy, co-operation, genuine love and a dash of creativity was the secret ingredient behind our success.

Happy posing with our medals and calligraphy. It feels good to win 🙂

Here are some great sites about Chinese calligraphy and all its trivia.

Here is the website for the Snake Zodiac Society( A NGO for those born in the year of the Snake). the one and only of its kind in the whole of Malaysia. They provide lots of good info about the Snake as a zodiac, its cultural importance and history. Only available in Mandarin Chinese though.

It is of utmost importance to uphold our own culture and spread it to the world. Chinese calligraphy has been here for thousands of years and I’m confident it will last till the end of times. It is a beautiful form of expression that combines words and pictures. It is both, an Art and a Discipline. It is both rigid and soft. It is the epitome of Yin and Yang. We love calligraphy and we hope by reading our posts, you would too 🙂 (Do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to know more about calligraphy).

All of us, regardless of age, gender, social status, i.e all walks of life play an important role in bringing happiness and positive energy to this world. We hereby send our positive energy to all our readers out there with this pic. Wishing you guys, a happy and prosperous Chinese New Year.

蛇年好 she nian hao-meaning have a good year of the snake.i.e Happy New Year !

Have you started decorating for the auspicious celebration? or Cracking your head on how to decorate your house?

Here’s a great idea for you to try! Just read through this posts and be ready to get your hands “dirty” !

We did this on Monday to be put up on our walls as our decoration for this festive season. It’s really quite a lot of fun.And there was an overwhelming satisfaction seeing the fishes transform from a blank piece of white paper into a life-like fishes. We chose Koi fish as it symbolizes prosperity, good fortune and abundance. In Chinese, we always say Nian Nian You Yu.(年年有余),literally meaning excess of prosperity every year.The yu ( 余 )here means excess and the word fish( 鱼) in Chinese has the same pronunciation,kind of a play of words. Also, it’s our favorite pet! Look at how lively they are!

Top View of all our dear fishes

We’ll teach you how. But first we need you to prepare some materials first.

Materials:

1 piece of plain A4 size drawing paper

A pair of scissors

UHU glue( or any strong adhesive glue)

Poster colour

A small brush

Some artistic talent

And lots of creativity!

Here’s the step-to-step basis on how to make these beautiful Koi fishes. Suits our blog theme too!

This is the most important step as it determines the size and shape of the fish. Take note the both sides are preferably of the same size.

Step 7: Make a few more of different colours and patterns. Here’s the yellow koi fish.

The smiling fish. It makes us smile every time we see this 😉

The fish is saying 🙂

Our Blackie, yet the cutest of all 😉

According to Feng Shui, a black fish is needed as the part of a group of nine fishes collection to absorb all the negative energies. The positive energy emitted by the other fishes will continue to prosper the family who display the group of nine fishes in a harmonious way.

Our Prettiest Koi fish, the most feminine among all..

Our Koi fishes having Reunion Meal aka 团年饭 ‘Tuan Nian Fan’ together

Our favourite Koi fishes and yours truly 🙂

Now, you can own these cute prosperous Koi fishes too!

Make it yourself, or you can email us at endearingmoments@hotmail.com to order. Let us know the quantity, color and pattern you want. We will custom make every fishes especially for you @ RM 5 /fish. Purchase 9 fish and we will pack in a quality calligraphy about A 3 size for free.The fishes will ‘swim’ directly to your doorstep! (At the local delivery charges of course!)

Trivia about Chinese New Year:It is the most important traditional Chinese Festivity known as ‘Spring Festival’ based on the lunar calendar.Reunion dinner 团年饭 ‘Tuan Nian Fan’ (or lunch ) is a must for families on the last day of the previous year.Chinese New Year’s Eve is a day where Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner known as Chúxī (除夕), literally “Eve of the Passing Year.” Chinese from all over the world will travel by all means possible to reach their home and participate in this the reunion dinner.

Follow Us via Email

“Mealtimes. Children wanted their parents undivided attention at mealtimes and it was hurtful not to get it.” The reasons behind the changes in behaviour recently – this article nailed it. Past three days, big sister has been refusing solids for breakfast, only drinks milk, have cakes at school tea break (3 days in a row! […]

It is a bright Monday morning and big sis is already awake while the little sister is just about to make a turn and suddenly woken up. Little sister began to whimper. 妹妹你不要哭，姐姐在这里。(Little sis, don’t cry, big sis is here.) 萱proceeds to hug her little sister. Little sister’s face lit up and smile, ever so […]

Be grateful. For the things that went right. For the things that went wrong. For the things that is in our likings. For the things that is not within ohr likings. Be grateful. For we do not know how it would be, otherwise. It could be better. It could also be worse. 一山还比一山高. One mountain […]

Slow Down, Mummy. This is not a race to see who finishes faster. It is a journey, meant to be enjoyed, and savoured every single second of it. It is a journey to cherish how beautiful life is. It is a journey to watch how a little human being uncurled from the day he/she was […]

For the past 7months, I beg to have extra 10minutes of me-time. Now I beg to have an extra 10minutes with my kids. For the past 7 months, I kept asking Little Pistachio to lower down her voice. To stop singing because it is waking up the little sister. Now, I wish she would have […]

It was teatime yesterday. M: Do you want diamond or choco biscuit? X: Choco Mummy went to get TimTam from the freezer and handed her a piece. X took a bite and said good. After the third bite, she transferred the biscuit from one hand to another.l X: 肮脏 (dirty). 很肮脏。 She started looking for […]

Come dear, it is nap time. No signs of budging. Still screaming away. Still singing away. And the constant chatter is terrifying when you are trying hard to put the younger one to sleep. Do you want to nap? No Arent you tired? No. These conversation happens every other day since 8months ago. Soon it […]

Happy 2018! On the first day of 2018 we have Little Pistachio telling mummy that she wants to sleep on her own, in her own bed! How awesome is that? It is not the first time. Yet, it is good to have her own initiative to start sleeping on her own and yes, covering her […]

One more time, one more time, one more time, please. Daddy, cover me with blanket please. Just one more time. Daddy, come and draw a picture with me. One more time please. Stalling, a tactic used by toddler to make you stay longer, play longer. Even if it is just one moment longer. It is […]

Little Pistachio turns 2y3m today. You are mummy’s sunshine. You are my little pistahcio. Everything u do gives a spark of joy. Every new things you learn brings me joy. Mummy smiles and praises you each time you achieve or learnt something new. You must be wondering, “Why mummy, arent you happy with what I […]